RBC Direct Investing

I received an email from a reader asking about online trading with RBC Direct Investing, a subidiary of the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC). I’ve primarily known RBC as a provider of direct-access brokerage services to full-time daytraders, and it is ranked as the #1 in client service for Canadian brokers, so I figured I’d build a page.

Right off the bat, I found something I didn’t like – RBC’s commission schedule PDF document hasn’t been updated since December 12, 2008. That’s just plain sloppy.

For U.S. and Canadian investors doing 150+ trades a quarter, stock commission are $6.95 a trade, with options priced at $6.95 + $1.25 a contract. People doing 30 to 149 trades per quarter have to put out a bit more – $9.95 for a stock trade, and $9.95 + $1.25 a contract for options.

According to that old 2008 commission schedule (and who knows if this is right), traders executing less than 30 trades a quarter pay 3 cents a share with a minimum of $28.95 charge (US or Canadian dollars).

WTF?

Is this 1996? This is one hell of a competitive market and you can’t charge that much for a trade! It’s also not cool that you charge more money for broker-assisted trades. You should WANT customers to call you. RBC, wake up!  You may be #1 in client service, but come on – fix this pricing.

Sorry, but I’m not impressed with RBC Direct Investing. Their commission rates are completely out of whack with the market, especially when it comes to options traders – and it doesn’t offer offsetting benefits like branch offices, or even an attractive website. I took RBC Direct’s online tour and the site looks pretty darn old.

If I was Canadian, I’d look at OptionsXpress (OXPS) or Questrade before RBC any day of the week. Americans, look at Thinkorswim or TradeKing.